Sir Douglas Mawson's replica Antarctic huts open in Hobart

The detail of the replica includes a golliwog which sat next to Sir Douglas Mawson's bunk.

ABC: Penny Younger

History is being brought to life in Hobart with the opening of replica huts used by Antarctic explorer Sir Douglas Mawson.

The original huts were built by Sir Douglas and his team of explorers at Commonwealth Bay in 1912.

The Mawson's Huts Foundation says that more people have climbed Mount Everest than have been inside the original huts.

Now after more than four years in the planning, the replica huts are giving visitors a taste of the hardships faced by early explorers.

Mawson's Hut Foundation Chairman David Jensen says visitors to the replica can learn about the voyage, the construction of the huts and the part Huskies played in Antarctic life.

There is an old fashioned stove and tin cups in the kitchen and the men's bunks line the walls.

John Tucker and his team spent four months reconstructing the huts with timber sourced from Finland.

"It's the same source as the Baltic pine that Douglas Mawson used 100 years ago and the visible framing that you see inside is Oregon pine which is also the same," he said.

On hand for the opening was a relative of one of the expeditioners.

Russell Hodgman's father Alfred travelled with Mawson from Hobart to Cape Denison 102 years ago.

"Douglas Mawson's asked him would he design a hut, with Douglas Mawson's specifications which he did do," Mr Hodgman said.

Husky helpers on show

The first thing that tourists see as they walk into the front door of the hut is a stuffed husky which served in Antarctica.

"We've got two huskies courtesy of the Australian Antarctic Division who kindly lent them to us and they've both been done and served at Mawson's base and we've turned the veranda area of the hut into an interpretation area," Mr Jensen said.

"Previously it's where the dogs lived and supplies were stored."

Some of the first visitors, Steven Richers from Melbourne and Sydney-sider Rosyln Hiscocks were impressed.

"I've read a lot about Mawson and I've read Home with the Blizzard and all about polar exploration so I'm just loving having a look at all this and seeing some of the footage on the TV screen is really interesting," she said.

"I didn't realise there was so much live footage to view and get a real feel for what it was like to be down there, that there's excellent history there to be relived."

The biggest room in the hut is the bunk room and in the corner is a little room the size of a pantry.

David Jensen says the huts are the birthplace of Australia's Antarctic history and he hopes the replica will raise the money needed to restore the real huts.

"The expedition was the first Australian, it was the Australian and New Zealand Australasian Antarctic expedition and it was made up of mainly young scientists."

"They had an average age of 29 years.

"None of them were carpenters yet they put these two huts together from pre-fab segments in three weeks and they're still standing and it's the foundations goal to make sure that they stand for a long, long time."